Breaking the Habit-Rewrite
by Memories-consume2332
Summary: Hermione helps Draco when he finds himself in a deathly situation. Slight AU, Possible Trigger Warning


A/N- Okay guys, so this was my first ever fanfiction that I wrote. I was but a wee little las when I wrote this..*cough* 6 years ago. So I have decided to FINALLY re-work this one-shot. I mean let's be honest…. It needs it.

Draco Malfoy sat by himself in his cold dormitory. He was too out of it to even think of calling for a house elf to light the fire in the grate to warm up the room. Malfoy had run out of the Great Hall in the middle of dinner after he kept catching the pitiful looks that Hermione sent his way. If there was anyone who should be getting looks of pity right now it was her and not him. He could see that she was still suffering from the hundreds of cruciatus curses that his deranged Aunt had sent towards her. Hermione had been captured when she had tried to catch up with the Weasel and Pot-head while they did who knows what. Before she could catch up to the though she had been captured and brought to the manor. She was tortured within an inch of her life before she was rescued by his crazy ex-house elf Dobby. Draco wasn't sure if he was going to ever see her again. Yet, when he arrived back to the school after the holidays there she was sitting there as if nothing had happened. It was at that point that Draco had decided he had had enough. He could no longer manage to fake his way through Deatheater meetings. He had to do something. Right now though Draco was waiting for his housemates to barge in and ask what the bloody hell his problem was. He really had messed up this time. Slytherin's were supposed to mask their feelings, not cause a scene and then vanish. 'Oh well,' Draco thought to himself 'It doesn't matter anyhow. Who cares what they all think.'

Everyone was started to trickle back into the Dormitories as Draco got up to leave the solitude of his room. He just couldn't handle being in here anymore. Something had to give. He needed help, yet he knew he had nowhere to turn. His Godfather was the right hand man of the very thing he wanted to avoid, and his father was a shell of his former self who would kill Draco for his traitorous thoughts anyhow. A trickling pain started to go through his left arm as if his black mark could sense how he was feeling. Deciding that enough was enough he decided to go to the bathroom instead. He was going to take care of the mark once and for all. He was not going to be subjected to another call again. No matter what. As Draco raised his wand to his arm and began to slice away at the darkened flesh he could hear Hermione's screams again and again as she yelled that she had no clue where the boys were. She screamed until she was hoarse that they had left without her. That they didn't care about her. These thoughts spurned him on, he had to make sure he would be good enough. He had to clear his conscious. He would not allow himself to cause harm to others anymore. Draco continued to cut at his dark mark until all that was left was a large hole where it used to be. There was blood and pieces of rotted flesh everywhere in the bathroom, Draco quickly cast the charm to make the mess disappear and then cast a stasis charm on his arm. He was going to bleed out if he didn't get help soon.

Draco took off running towards the common room so he could leave the dungeons. He had to get out of here before he was seen by someone. The last thing he needed was for someone to see him and what he had done only to turn him in. He had to move and fast. When he got to the common room he could here Pansy questioning Blaise and Theo about what had been wrong with him lately. Draco hadn't been paying her enough attention this year and she was starting to grow suspicious. Theo looked up in time to see Draco sneaking out of the common room and he nodded his head as if to say go quickly I'll hold her off. Secretly Theo understood Draco's position, he didn't want to go through what Draco had to and had been lucky that his father died several years while falling out of favor with Voldemort. Theo would not be called upon for anything. Draco sent a small nod and took off at a sprint once he reached the corridor. He needed to get to the Room of Requirement. Draco knew he could get the help he sought there. Students were going missing every day and he had a feeling that's where they were hiding.

When Draco reached the seventh floor corridor he spotted the bushy mane of Hermione Granger headed towards the Room of Requirement.

"Hermione! Stop!" Draco exclaimed trying to catch her attention.

Hermione turned and looked at Draco with a confused expression. "Is there something you need Malfoy?" she tried to hide the tremor in her voice. Seeing him brought up too many memories too soon. While she put on a brave face to the school in front of the man who just stood there well she wasn't sure she could keep control of herself.

"I just, I need your help. Please help me." his voice cracked with emotion as he crumpled on the floor in the of Hermione. "Just please, I'm so sorry. So…. sorry." Draco quietly said as he passed out.

Hermione gasped and immediately checked his pulse, her heart rate skyrocketed as she tried to gulp down a strong rush of anxiety that had crept into her throat. His pulse was still there but was very faint. Hermione began to remove his robes and noticed some blood starting to seep through his shirt on his left arm. Confused Hermione started to roll the sleeve up and cried out in horror when she say the mangled flesh that remained on his arm. She stood up and began to pound on the door of the Room of Requirement hoping that Neville or Ginny were there and could help her save him. She had left her beaded bag in there and magic was only going to do so much to save him now. There was no way she could take him to the Hospital Wing the Carrows would kill him.

Neville opened the door quickly and took in the scene around him, frozen in shock it took Ginny and Hannah pushing past him to get him to move again. "Oh shit." Neville finally managed to say. "Is he.. Is he dead?" He questioned.

"Not yet, but he will be soon if we don't stabilize him. He cut out his dark mark. The stupid boy." Hermione began mumbling as she worked on his arm casting all the healing spells she could think of. "Neville, go get my beaded bag. Ginny I need you to ask the room for some tape and some bandages. Hannah get all the Yarrow Root that you can." Immediately the three took off to find what Hermione had asked for.

As they returned with the items Hermione had managed to get some of his skin sewn up and all that was left was a gaping hole where the dark mark had been before. She summoned some Dittany out of her bag and poured several drops into the wound. She then began to pack what was left of the wound with the yarrow root and the bandages. Finally she stopped working and they watched as some of the color started to return to Draco's skin. Neville ran into the Room of Requirement and brought back some potions for Draco.

"We don't have many left, but here is a blood replenishing potion and a calming draught." Neville said as he handed Hermione the vials. She unstoppered them and then poured them into Draco's mouth.

"I think we can move him now if we are careful. Let's get him onto a cot and we will figure out the rest later. He mentioned that he needed help, that he wanted help." Hermione said quietly as she levitated Draco into the room and Neville shut the door.

"You don't reckon he is actually absconding do you?" Neville questioned the girls.

"It sure looks that way. I mean he wouldn't do this for no reason. He almost died. He will be lucky if he didn't drain his magic by doing that." Hermione replied while she got a cold cloth ready and began to wipe Draco's face with it. "All we can do is give him a chance, it's what Dumbledore tried to do last year he was just too scared then. We will help him, we will make sure he survives this. I believe he has finally turned a new leaf." She said in such a way that no one dared defy her.

The others in the room backed away and let Hermione take care of Draco. If there was anyone who could handle Draco and make sure he would stay in line and not cause any harm it was Hermione. Now only time would tell if this ended up being a good idea or not. If anything this game them an in. He was sure to have some information. Hermione would confer with the others tomorrow, but for today Draco needed her and that's all she really wanted was to be needed.


End file.
